Heater



T. E. MURRAY. JR 1,798,892

HEATER Filed June 11, 1928 S Sheets-Sheet 1 b t k 0 9 0 1 W r it |l..lt..l. W Y B R E o wM m a WE T 0mm ma m uun m nun 0v nun mun: M 1 1 iEu m F man 6 "m DUE 2 nun I P fiTmJu l1 E; n I nun i n I I. 0 0 3 March 31, 1931.

HEATER Filed June 11, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 29 O n a l muqjnumnmmmnu nmcpclmnnmmnuu nunnnnnmummm INVENTOR Thomas E.Murray,]1: Y

. ATTORNEY March 31,1931. r. E. MURRAY. JR

HEATER Filed June 11, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Lllllll llll lllll zzl Fiy. '9

Thomas E. Mun- 38 &.

INVENTOR ay,J1: W ORNEY March 31, 1931. T. E, MURRAY. JR

HEATER Filed June 11 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Thomas E .Murray, 11:

/mad,

ATTORNEY March 31, 1931. T. E. MURRAY. JR

HEATER Filed June 11, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Tlwmas EMurmy/n ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THOMAS E. MURRAY, JR., 015 BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO METROPOLITAN ENGINEERING COMPANY, .A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK HEATER Application filed June 11,

The invention aims to provide certain improvements relating to heaters or radiators, as they are commonly called, for heating the air in rooms, halls and similar spaces; and to provide for economy of space and advantages in operation hereinafter set forth in detail.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a heater mounted in or forming part of the door of a room;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section: on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial horizontal section on the line 33 of Fig. 1';

Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a front elevation and a vertical section of an alternative arrangement Fig. 6 is an enlarged section of end of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a vertical section of another arrangement Fig. 8 is a detail in vertical section;

Fig. 9 is a plan View illustrating a typical location of the doors in a house;

Fig. 10 is a section similar to Fig. 8, illustrating a modification;

Fig. 11 is a cross-section on the line 1111 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a horizontal section on the line l2-12 of Fig. 15, illustrating another modification;

Fig. 13 is a front elevation of the same;

the lower Figs. 14 and 15 are respectively vertical sections on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 13;

Fig. 16 is an elevation, similar to Fig. 1, of a modification.

Referring to Fig. l, we have illustrated a door 1 supported by hinges 2 and located in the wall 3 of a room. One face of the door,

for example, when closed, may be within the room and the opposite face in a hall or adjacent room or in the outer air. I propose to use an air heater as the wholeor a part of such a door. There is economy of space in such a location compared with the usual location of radiators on the floor or projecting from a wall beneath a window. I prefer to use a of a holIow metal construction.

1928. Serial No. 284,368.

type ofheater which by reason of its dimensions and its comparatively light weight has special advantages in this connection.

Such a location of the heater has also a functional advantage in many cases where there is cold air at one side of the door (when shut) and a room which is to be kept warm at the other side; as where the door leads from a room to a cold hall or to the outside air. A great difliculty in keeping houses warm in winter is the transmission of the cold through the door or around it to a greater extent then is permitted by the solid wall. By locating the heater in sucha door the cold air thereabouts is warmed before it gets into the room. And with the convection type of heaters illustrated, the air thus warmed is carried into the upper part of the room.

By locating the heater in the door also, it may be arranged by means of suitable dampers to heat the air of either of two rooms or spaces on opposite sides of it; or to heat both such rooms or spaces.

In Fi e. 1, 2 and 3, I have illustrated a door In an opening extending clear through the lower part of the door there is inserted a heater 4. Below this the opposite face plates 5 of the door are spaced apart and apertured to admit air to the bottom of the heater. Above the heater the opposite face plates 6 of the door are similarly spaced apart, and provided at their upper ends with openings for escape of heated air. The air admitted to the bottom of the radiator is heated thereby and conveyed from its upper end through the upper part of the hollow door and discharged through the openings at the top. We thus have air lines of the height of the complete door. In radiators of the convection type the higher the vertical flues through which the air passes, the greater the draft, the more rapid the circulation of air and the more efficient the heater. By utilizing the door, therefore, as a flue, closed except at the top and bottom, for circulation of the air through the heater, a high degree of efficiency is secured; the height of the door being usually a large percentage of the total height of the wall.

The heater may be arranged to take in air the door, as illustrated, the air is admitted on this side at the bottom and passes out on the same side at the top. The dampers at the opposite side being closed, the heater is practically ineffective at that side.

With the position of the dampers reversed, air will be taken in and discharged on the rear side of the door. Or the inlet damper may be opened on either one side and the outlet damper on the opposite side according to circumstances.

The radiator illustrated is of the style covered in certain prior pending applications; for example an application of myself and B7ennett jointly No. 203,437, filed July 5, 192

The'heating element is a steam pipe 11 of copper or brass extending horizontally back and forth and embraced between corrugated plates 12 of copper or other highly conductive material such as aluminum and forming vertical flues through which the air passes and by which a rapid draft is induced.

Preferably also there are cover plates 13 at the front and back which give to the faces of the door a smooth appearance and which serve also to enclose the spaces outside of and between the corrugations; so that a closed flue space is provided of practically the full thickness of the space within the door. Plates 13 may be welded to plates 12.

Experience has shown that such radiators can be made of about one third the size of the ordinary cast iron radiator performing the same duty and can be made of less thickness and much less weight. This type of radiator, therefore, is particularly adapted for use indoors.

The pipe 11 at its upper end is brought out slightly beyond the face ofthe door and has an extension 14 leading to a rotary connecting oint 15 with its axis in line with the axis of the hinges 2, from which joint fitting 15 there is an extension to a valve 16 connecting with a pipe 17 carried in the wall 3. Similarly the outlet end of the heating pipe is brought out beyond the face of the door at. 18 to a rotary fitting 19 which leads through a trap 20 to a discharge pipe 21 the axis of the fitting 19 corresponding with that of the door hinges.

A suitable design for the rotary fitting is shown in Fig. 8. A lower section 22 of pipe has a bevelled upper end 23 carrying packing 24 which is compressed by a gland 25 operated by a nut 26 screwing on the outside of the bell 23.

The upper pipe 1 1 can rotate freely in the lower one. This is a common style of packing for steam valves and other fittings. Various other styles of j ointmay be used. Likewise the valve may be hand operated or may be thermostatically controlled or controlled by the opening and closing of the door. In

fact the circulating connections for the steam pipe may be of any usual or suitable type.

Instead of using a steam pipe as the heating element, an electric heating element may be used, similarly embraced between corrugated plates as described in the aforesaid Murray and Bennett application; the connections to the outside electric circuit being simpler than in the case of steam.

Figs. 4 and 5 show the invention applied to a door having its upper part 27 built solid- 1y of wood or other material. The lower end.

of the door is recessed clear to the bottom edge, for insertion of the heater 4;. The heater is of the type above described with a steam pipe 11 embraced between corrugated plates 12. Facing plates 28 are extended clear to the lower edge of the door. Their lower portions are apertured to admit airto the bottom of the heater which is located somewhat higher. The heater extends up to the top ofthe recess and has on top of it a pair of dampers 29. By lifting either damper the hot air will be discharged at one side or the other. Or they may both be lifted to discharge at both sides if desired.

In this case, although the full height of the door is not utilized, yet the height of the flues in the heater itself is suflicient toinduce a rapid draft and circulation of air through the heater.

The dimensions of the recesses and the number of lengths 11 of the steam pipe may be varied andin general it may be said that the heater may be proportioned in dimensions and in capacity according to the limits ZlIVOlVGd in its location and the duty required 0 it.

andany dust inthe circulating current, from contact with the finished surface of the'door above and thus prevent discoloration of the latter.

In this respect the location of the heater in a door is also advantageous compared to usual surface of the ordinary door.

To protect the wood work from overheat- The dampers 29 serve to deflect the hot air,

ing at the right and left-hand ends of the re cess, it may be lined at these points with strips of asbestos or other insulation 30. And such insulation may be provided at any other points where it is desired to protect the door. The ends of the heater, however, do not necessarily come into direct contact with the wood work; and even where they do, they are comparatively cool and not apt to damage the wood. It is a characteristic of this type of radiator, and one which is particular y important in the locating of it in a door, that the rapid air circulation serves to keep the external surfaces comparatively cool even when using a heating element of extremely high temperature.

The exposed surfaces are generally so cooled as not to burn the hand or other part of a persons body coming in contact with them. There is very little of the radiant heat which is characteristic of the ordinary cast iron radiators. The convection system heats the air by contact within the flues andcirculates it, and nearly all the heat is utilized in this way to secure a uniform temperature of the air Within the room.

It is not essential that the heater be built into a recess cut through the door as in the previous examples. It may, for example, be applied to one face of the door as shown in Fig. 7. Here the door 31 has a lower panel 32 in one recessed face of which is mounted the heater 4. The recess is preferably faced with a sheet 33 of metal or asbestos or other non-conducting material extending slightly above the top of the heater to protect the wood work from the hot air. The heater is of the same construction above described, with steam pipes 11 embraced between corrugated plates 12 forming vertical flues through which the air passes under a stron induced draft. Such a heater may be of so little thickness as not to interfere with the swinging of a door back against the wall within the limits now permitted by the projecting hinges, knobs, etc. When the door is open the heater occupies what is now an entirely waste space. When the door is closed it occupies a space of only an inch or two in thickness.

This space cannot be used as wall space for placing furniture, but its utilization for the heater releases a corresponding len th of wall space so as to increase the usable area within the room.

In the case of a radiator applied to a face of the door as in Fig. 7, the piping will be all exposed and most easily accessible. No damper is necessary with such an arrangement. In fact where the heater is set into the door and adapted to discharge'both on the front and rear faces thereof, the dampers may be omitted so as to heat two rooms with one heater, which means a further economy of space.

Fig. 9 is a sketch plan of a house showing doors and windows to which the heater can be applied with advantage. The front door 34 leads from the street to a hallway 35 from which are doors 36 each between the hall and one of the rooms and a door 37 connects two inside rooms. On the street door 34 and the windows 38 a heater would be applied discharging entirely on the inside. Similar heaters would be used on the outside of the doors39 of closets or other enclosures which are not to be heated. In the doors 36 it would be preferable to have heaters with dampers which could shut off the hot air from the hall- The apertures in the door for admitting and discharging air maybe in various other positions than those shown in Figs. 1 to 6. Instead of being in the middle of the face of the door, they may be supplemented or replaced by but located nearer the edges as shown at 9* and 9", Fig. 16, so that the openings at the bottom would take in the cold air that comes around the edge and the openings at the top would supply hot air to mixdirectly with the cold air which leaks in. Or the openings shown may be supplemented or replaced partially or wholly by openings around the side and the top and bottom edges, such as are indicated at 10*, 10", 10 and 10 in Figs. land 2. This arrangement serves to distribute heated air around the edges of a door or window space and thus to offset the leakage of cold air which sometimes takes place at such a point; and is a feature of the invention which can be utilized with various other heaters than those herein referred to.

I have shown and described the invention applied to the ordinary doors, and the invention has substantial advantages in this particular connection. But there are advantages also in mounting the heater on or in other structures forming part of the wall a of a room and movable to open and shut positions, such, for example as window sashes, blin'ds, shutters and the li e. Also, although the invention is illustrated with the ordinary door swinging in one direction only, it may be applied with advantage to'other styles of door such, for example, as sliding doors and doors swin 'ng in both directions, and also to doors w ich in the closed position still leave upper or lower or intermediate openirfigs between the :rooms at opposite sides 0 it.

The invention contemplates the use of vaopenings through the face plates rious other styles of heater. But the convection type and particularly the thin small type described with vertical flues for 'circulating the air are peculiarly adapted to constitute or form part of the doors of a room or enclosed space 'to be heated.

The door in which the heater is mounted may be opened at the lower end, either entirely as illustrated, or sufliciently to admit air freely. For outside doors this has the advantage of taking up the cold air which usually enters between the door and sill to some extent and heating this air before discharging it at the inner side of the door.

Figs. and llillustrate the automatic opening and closing of a valve leading to the steam or water pipe of the heater. The inlet pipe 14 to the heater instead of extending directly into the rotaryfittin has at its end a tube 40, the lower edge 0 which is partially closed by a diaphragm, 41 through which is an opening 42. The bell 23 terminates flush with the end of the section and screws into a coupling-43 which at its lower end screws on to a pipe 44 throu h which the heating medium is supplied. T e coupling has a diaphra m 45 bearingagainst the diaphragm 41 and aving an opening 46 which in the position shown is set at 180 degrees from the opening 42. The pipe 14 is shown in the reverse direction from that in Figs. 4 and 8, corresponding to the open position of the door. In this position, therefore, the steam is cut off. When the door swings around to the closed position the opening 42 will swing around to register with the opening 46 and thus permit the passage of steam. Various other styles of cock may be used for opening and closing the pipe. The hand or thermostatic valve may be omitted with such an automatic control, but preferably it will be retained; When the steam is cut off by hand or thermostatic valve, of course, the door-operated valve will have no effect. But as long as the main valve 16 is open then-the opening and shutting of'the door will out 01f or admit steam to the heater. The damper for closing the air flues may also be operated automatically by the opening and closing of the door. This applies to dampers of various types. Figs. 12 to 15 illustrate an application of it to the heater and damper of Figs. 4 and 5.

The damper has two wings 47 and 48, the former being weighted by a rod 49 at its edge so as to hold it normally in the positionof Fig. 15, so that when the door is closed the air will be discharged only at the opposite side, which may be called the front of the door. When the door is open, however, this side, the left side in Fig. 15, will be adjacent to the wall of the room, and it is desirable to shut ofi the hot air and open it from what we may call the back of the door, which now faces into the room.

The wings or plates 47 and 48 carry at their ends trunnions 50 which are rotatably mounted in bearing straps 51 mounted on the horizontal edge of the portion 52 of the door. immediately above the radiator. The wing 48 has at its inner or left-hand end a lateral extension 53, the end of which bears under a cam 54 fastened in suitable position on the door jamb 3. As the door is opened the arm 53 is pressed down by the cam 54 to a osition which throws down the wing 48 and s uts off the air from the corresponding side of the door, at the same time lifting the wing or damper 47 at the opposite sides to permit the escape of the hot air.

Various other modifications may be made 'by'those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims. y.

I claim: Y 1. An air heater mounted within a door between two rooms, said door being adapted to discharge the heated air at both sides of 'the door and means for cutting ofi the discharge at one side.

a 2. An air heater mounted within a part of the wall of -a room which is movableto open and shut positions, said heater being adapted to discharge its heated air into the room, said heater comprising horizontally extending heating elements and having vertical flues openat the top and bottom to induce a rapid upward draft of the heated air.

3. An air heater mounted within a part of the wall of a room which is movable as a whole to open and shut positions, said heater being adapted in the aforesaid shut position to discharge its heated air into the room, said heater lying between the planes of the oppo-' site faces of said movable part.

i 4. A part of the wall of a room movable to open and shut positions and having a hollow space within it open at the top and bottom and air heating means carried in said hollow space communicating at its lower end with the lower part of said hollow space and communicating at its upper end with the upper part thereof so that said movable structure and the heater form vertical flues for inducing a rapid upward draft of heated air.

5. A door having a hollow space within it open at the top and bottom and air heating means carried in said door communicating at its lower end with the lower part of 7. A part of the wall of a room movable to open and shut ositions and carrying an air heater with a amper for controlling the dischargeof heated air and means controlled by-the .shutting and opening movement for operating said damper.

8. A door between two rooms comprising an air heater adapted to discharge at either side of the door and a damper actuated by the movement of the door for alternately shutting oii the discharge of hot airv at each side and opening it at the opposite side.

9. Means for heating a room having an opening through a wall thereof, comprising a casing adapted to enclose a heater and to admit air thereto, said casing beinglocated in the opening through the wall and having passages for egress of the heated air at the edges of said opening.

10. Means for heating a room having an opening through a wall thereof, comprising a casing adapted to enclose a heater and to admit air to said heater, said casing be ing located in the opening through the wall and extendin well above the heater so as to induce a vertlcal draft of the heated air and having passages for egress of the heated air at the edges of said opening above the top of the radiator.

11. A part of the wall of a room movable to open a passage through the wall or to close the same and comprising a casing with openings permitting the passing of air therethrough and a heater arranged to heat the air therein and to cause a circulation of air therethrough and the discharge of the heated air into the room.

12. A door between two rooms, said doorcomprising a casing with openings permitting the passing of air therethrough and a heater arranged to heat the air therein and to cause a circulation of air therethrough and the discharge of the heated air into the rooms at both sides of the door.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

THOMAS E. MURRAY, JR. 

